In a historic scene, Spain was crowned European champion for the fourth time in its history after defeating England 2-1 in the final match held on Sunday in Berlin. With this victory, Spain became the first country to achieve this feat in the history of the European Championship, while the English team’s struggle continued, having not won a major trophy for 58 years.
Despite the strong fan support for the English team in the Olympic Stadium, the “Three Lions” once again failed to break the curse of tournaments that has haunted them since winning the World Cup in 1966 on home soil. Coach Gareth Southgate’s team faced a confident Spanish side, sure of their game and collective strength, falling to them just as the host German team did in the quarter-finals and the French team in the semi-finals.
Mikel Oyarzabal was the hero of the match, scoring the winning goal in the 86th minute, after the teams were tied following Nico Williams’ opener for Spain (47th minute) and Cole Palmer’s equalizer for England (74th minute).
Credit for this achievement goes to coach Luis de la Fuente, who succeeded in developing the Spanish team’s playing style to combine ball possession with attacking effectiveness. This success was not a coincidence, as the Spanish team under de la Fuente’s leadership had previously won the UEFA Nations League in 2023.
On the other hand, this failure is extremely painful for the English team and their coach Southgate, whose future is now in question after this loss. The struggle also continued for star player Harry Kane, who has yet to win a major title in his career.
This result once again confirms the Spanish team’s superiority on the European stage, while English fans continue to wait in anguish for the title that has eluded them for decades.